


Daydreaming about love

by PixiesAndFreckles



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: (I have no idea how instagram DMs work so that might be inconsistent), 9/8/20 edited to take WJ out, Alternate Universe - College/University, Are they technically strangers? idk, But i'm not tagging Got7 since he's just mentioned, Dori is literally an icon in this, Fluff, I added Jackson because honestly he'd be a cool RA, Little to no angst though cause I can't write that, Lots of pining from both ends and feelings, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, What are these tags someone teach me how to tag stories, yes I started this ages ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixiesAndFreckles/pseuds/PixiesAndFreckles
Summary: Jisung is what most people would describe as a hopeless romantic who is scared of falling in love but that's exactly what he does after rescuing a cat and befriending the owner who happens to be his crush.***Jisung knew his crush on Minho was growing and stopping it would be futile. Liking the older boy was easy. Minho made it easy by cracking sarcastic comments and mushy jokes. Seeing Minho smile during their talk caused Jisung’s heart to flutter one too many times.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 129





	Daydreaming about love

**Author's Note:**

> The line breaks mean that it switches point of view and the *** breaks mean a time skip but the same point of view. Hopefully, that isn't too confusing. Please enjoy and tell me what you think!

“Where’s Dori?” Minho frantically looked around his new apartment. He finally got a place of his own which meant he could actually live with his cats instead of driving to visit them at his parents’ house.

“She was right there,” Hyunjin pointed to the cat tree in the corner of the living room. Soonie was perched on the highest level and Doongie was on the lowest. The middle section was void of any cat.

Minho’s heart sunk, “do you think she managed to slip out the door?”

“Possibly,” Hyunjin bit at his nails, “She is a kitten so she’s small enough to squeeze through without us noticing.”

“ _Fantastic_ ,” Minho scoffed, “Help me find her.”

The two college students spent three hours searching the apartment, the building, and the surrounding area. Minho was on the verge of tears when the sun was starting to set and they still hadn’t found his precious little Dori.

“How about we make missing pet posters for her and put them up first thing in the morning?” Hyunjin patted Minho’s shoulder.

“What if something happens to her in that amount of time?” Minho rubbed at his face willing the tears not to spill. “She’s too small to be out by herself.”

The apartment had a weird aura to it the rest of the night after Hyunjin left. Nothing would ease the worry in Minho’s heart until he found Dori. He hoped he would wake up and she’d be by the front door but he knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

* * *

Jisung was walking back from a late night at the studio when he heard small meows coming from an alleyway. He knew stray cats were plentiful in the city but this one sounded different. He could tell the cat was in some form of trouble so against his better judgment he decided to check the situation out. He found a small gray kitten tangled up in yarn in a discarded box. The kitten was clearly distressed and Jisung approached as quietly as he could.

“Do you need some help?” Jisung asked _obviously_ not expecting a reply but he hoped his voice would soothe the kitten.

He approached cautiously holding out his hand for the cat to sniff. He noticed her collar was pink and had a bow, a little bell, and the name “Dori” was printed on the side of the band. After letting Dori sniff him for a bit he worked on freeing her from the yarn. It took a few minutes and once the kitten was free she jumped onto Jisung’s lap.

“I’m going to assume that since you have such a pretty collar you belong to someone,” Jisung pet behind the kitten’s right ear. “How about I take you home for the night and we find your owner in the morning.”

Jisung knew he shouldn’t be bringing a random cat into his dorm room but what else was he to do? He couldn’t go knocking at people’s doors at almost two in the morning. And he couldn’t leave the cat knowing he could at least shelter her for the time being. He scooped her up into his arms and made his way to a 24hr convenience store.

He bought himself a small snack and a few cans of wet cat food hoping it would be enough. He knew most people fed their cats a mix of dry and wet food but he couldn’t justify buying a whole bag of cat food. He made sure to text his RA, Jackson, about Dori so he wouldn’t have to confiscate the poor kitten.

“I hope you don’t mind that my dorm room is a mess,” Jisung said to Dori while swiping to get into the building. “My roommate is gone for the weekend although I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you staying for a bit.”

The tiny kitten meowed at him as he carried her into the elevator. He hoped that for once the stupid thing wouldn’t fall or rock because he didn’t want to scare Dori. Jisung’s wish was heard and they arrived at his floor with zero casualties.

It was a bit of a struggle to get his key in the door while holding the squirming cat but somehow he managed. Once he knew the door was completely shut he put her down. He found an old box and some newspaper to make her a makeshift litter box which would be hell to clean up but he couldn’t afford actual litter. He just hoped Dori actually used it instead of making a mess somewhere.

Thankfully, he had some plastic bowls lying around and went to the bathroom down the hall to fill one with water. The walk back to his room proved to be a little difficult because he had to carry his bathroom supplies, the bowl of water, and try to open the door without Dori escaping. He managed it all though and he set some food out in the other bowl just in case she got hungry in the night. He didn’t know the kitten’s usual eating schedule and he hoped this one day out of line wouldn’t cause major problems for her owner.

Once he deemed his room cat friendly he finally settled into his bed. Dori crawled right onto his lap and rubbed her head on his hand until he started to pet her. Since it was late he started to doze off and moved to get into a better position. Dori meowed at him but hopped off his lap to snuggle more into his side. 

***

The next morning was absolutely hectic. Jisung woke up far earlier than normal because Dori was meowing like crazy. She had somehow gotten herself stuck on the top of Jisung’s dresser. Getting her off was an ordeal and Jisung came out of it with a few scratches. He plopped her back down on the bed as he got ready for the day.

“Now, what am I to do with you?” Jisung said to the small cat. “You don’t have a phone number on your collar.”

He was restating what he already knew at this point since he wouldn’t have brought her back if he could have called someone. Jisung figured he’d post about Dori on his Instagram. Quite a few people from his university followed him and he assumed the message would spread well.

Getting Dori to sit with him for the photo was easier than he thought and in no time he had it posted. He left Dori’s name out of the description and made sure it wasn’t visible on her collar. If the real owner messaged him they’d know her name. Jisung didn’t want someone to claim her when she really didn’t belong to them.

As he fixed himself breakfast he got a few comments on the picture from people wishing him luck finding Dori’s owner. Another comment stood out though it was from Felix’s friend, Hyunjin who claimed the cat belonged to his friend Minho. Jisung’s breath caught in his throat. Dori was Minho’s cat? The _Lee Minho_ the one Jisung had a gigantic crush on? Sure enough, the tagged account was that _Lee Minho_ and Jisung didn’t know how to process any of the information that had been thrown at him.

Jisung’s crush on the older boy was at first purely based on the fact that Minho was hot. Jisung had seen Minho walking around campus in tight jeans and a leather jacket and lost his mind. He gained crushes easily and pretty much any attractive person had once been a crush of his. It’s not like he meant to fall that easily but Jisung was a hopeless romantic who watched a ton of rom-coms. Not like _any_ of the people he liked would _ever_ like him back. Jisung learned that the hard way back in high school.

One day he got out of his creative writing class early and went to wait for Felix outside of the Australian boy’s contemporary dance class. The art building had some private practice rooms but most of the classrooms had giant glass windows that allowed people passing by to look in. Sure it allowed for some great lighting which the artist surely enjoyed, but Jisung didn’t know how the dancers focused on their routines when they were being gawked at. However, without those windows he never would have witnessed Minho dancing which was what really sent his crush into high gear.

Minho was in the “Daydream” stage of Jisung’s crush hierarchy which meant every time Jisung was distracted (which happened a lot) he thought about Minho. In an effort to not let his crush get any worse he denied Felix’s attempts at getting them to meet, he avoided all of Minho’s social media, and if Felix posted about the older boy Jisung required a warning so he could ignore the post. Despite his efforts, Jisung’s plan wasn’t going well. But again that was probably due to the fact that Jisung obsessed over romantic films and tv shows and wanted his happily ever after.

Only one other person had reached this stage of crush for Jisung. Most of them fell flat after a few weeks. The other crush had long since fizzled out and was currently pushed to the furthest spot in Jisung’s brain. But Minho was at the forefront and Jisung had no idea how he was going to survive interacting with the older boy. Especially considering no other crush had surpassed this stage. Since past the daydream stage was reality and Jisung wasn’t ready to face that. But he didn’t have a choice since he couldn’t keep Dori forever. No matter how badly he wanted to avoid the situation he wasn’t going to kidnap someone else’s cat.

He spent far too long trying to figure the correct etiquette on DMing Minho. Would it be weird since neither of them followed the other before this? Should he mention Felix? Had Minho even seen his post about Dori yet?

He finally worked up some courage after a few minutes to send Minho the worst message on the planet but it was a start. A bad start but at least it got the message across.

***

**LeeKnow**

_Active now_

**J.One:**

Hi, I think that I found your cat.

**LeeKnow:**

Hyunjin just messaged me about your post and that is in fact Dori.

Unless someone else has a cat that looks

eerily similar to her with the exact same collar.

I noticed you didn’t add her name or show her collar in the picture.

**J.One:**

I didn’t want anyone to say“That’s my cat”

and then have it not be their cat.

Which is why I thought to leave out Dori’s name.

They’d have to give me her name to be the real owner.

**LeeKnow:**

I never would have thought about that.

Thank you so much for taking her somewhere safe.

I couldn’t sleep last night because

I thought she was outside the whole time.

**J.One:**

No problem. I’m free all day today

so I can drop her off whenever.

Or you could come pick her up at my dorm.

I bought some cat food for her as well so I’ll

probably have some of that left if you want it.

I really don’t need it :P

**LeeKnow:**

I could come get her. You said you live on campus right?

And the extra cat food would be welcomed.

I actually have three cats so I go through a bunch.

**J.One:**

Yep! I live in Miroh on the 5th floor. Room 506.

I can’t believe you have three cats.

**LeeKnow:**

That’s Jackson’s floor right?

Wait! You’re Felix’s roommate aren’t you?

And yeah I finally got my own apartment and was able

to move them in with me.

**J.One:**

Yes to both of your questions.

I wish I could have a pet but the dorms are small.

I should have just sent the image to Jackson last night I guess

he probably could have told me she was yours.

**LeeKnow:**

It’ll be nice to finally meet you!

Felix talks about you a lot.

I’m not sure if Jackson would have known since

we’re more like acquaintances than friends.

I’m just leaving my apartment now. Be there in like ten minutes.

**J.One:**

See you then :)

***

“Minho’s coming to get you,” Jisung said as he scratched Dori’s back.

She perked up at Minho’s name and Jisung chuckled at her. The ten minutes flew by eerily quick and Jisung didn’t know if he was happy or not that Dori was going home. He ended up becoming attached to her and didn’t want to say goodbye to her forever. He figured Minho would never talk to him again after he picked Dori up and that was another thing he didn’t want to stop.

Jisung didn’t even know Minho knew of him. The fact that Felix talked about him to Minho and possibly other people warmed his heart.

Their friendship started off a little rocky like most roommate friendships. They both had to adjust to sharing such a small space. It’s fine now since Felix spends the weekends with his boyfriend. Jisung was the one who introduced the two and he wouldn’t let Felix or Changbin forget that.

But Jisung couldn’t help but think about what Felix could have told Minho. The Australian boy knew about his crush on the older boy and Jisung was nervous he said something that would clue Minho into knowing about his feelings. Except, Felix wouldn’t do that to him. Unless he was absolutely certain Minho liked Jisung back then maybe Felix would. The good thing about that detail is that Minho would never like Jisung in a million years.

* * *

Minho was screwed. He made a list of everything that went wrong in the last day and a half that lead him to this moment.

1\. He lost Dori

2\. Not finding her caused him to not sleep

3\. He has dark eye circles that could rival the size of the moon

4\. He stress ate last night so his face is puffy

5\. The boy he’s had a crush on for the past few months is the one who found his cat

6\. He 100% made a fool out of himself during their little DM chat

Which lead him to stand in front of Jisung’s door for far too long. Seriously, he should have knocked by now. But Minho doesn’t want to actually talk to Jisung. Although talking to Jisung would mean getting Dori back it would also mean that he might not talk to Jisung ever again.

He entertained his crush on the younger right from the start. Because there was no harm in crushing on his dance buddy’s roommate who he’d never actually met. Felix was fun to talk to but they never really became “close” friends like he and Hyunjin had (although Hyunjin wormed his way in and Felix was too nice to do that). They did eat out together quite a bit and Felix was well aware of Minho’s crush. Felix tried to persuade Minho into letting him set them up or at least exchange their numbers. But Minho denied his help.

Allowing himself to have a crush was one thing but actually acting on it was another. It wasn’t news that Minho flirted with people but he didn’t _do_ relationships. He fell quick which meant it was harder to get back up after someone inevitably broke his heart. And well, Jisung was cute… _really_ cute, and funny, and had rescued his cat. Minho didn’t want to break the little fantasy of Jisung he had. Didn’t want to be the cause of hurt, discomfort, or anything bad for Jisung. Because everyone else left so why wouldn’t Jisung?

Minho finally allowed himself to knock. The door opened slightly and a distressed looking Jisung poked his head out.

“Quick!” Jisung pulled Minho in by his sleeve. “Every time I go near the door she tries to escape.”

Jisung shut the door the second his entire body was in the room. A tiny ball of fluff began to meow loudly at his feet and Minho could feel the tears start to prickle in his eyes. Dori nudged her head against his leg and he bent down to pick her up.

“You caused quite the scene didn’t you?” He held Dori out in front of his face. “Had me and Hyunjinnie worried.”

“I found her stuck in yarn if that makes you feel better,” Jisung laughed.

“It kinda does,” Minho giggled back. He moved to cradle the kitten in his arms. “A small dose of karma for her.”

“I think she’s rather excited to go home,” Jisung scratched behind Dori’s ears as she rested in Minho’s arms. “Let me get the food together for you.”

Jisung grabbed a plastic bag from his closet and moved the un-opened cans of food into it. Minho took it from him and shifted Dori to slide it onto his arm. He could feel the vibrations of Dori’s purring against his chest and a soft smile made its way onto his face.

“Well, that’s everything.” Jisung moved to pet Dori some more.

“She seems to like you,” Minho commented as he felt Dori’s purring increase.

“I like her too,” Jisung said. “I think I’m going to miss her a bit.”

“You should visit.” The words left Minho’s mouth before he even registered them.

“What?” The shocked look on Jisung’s face almost made Minho cringe. Almost.

“I wouldn’t mind if you came to visit her. You could also meet my other two cats.” He didn’t know why he kept adding onto the mess he made. “I’m sure she’ll miss you as well. My cats really only know my family, myself, Hyunjin, and a few of my other friends. They could use the socialization.”

“Okay,” Jisung nodded with a soft smile. “I would like that.”

“Great!” The obvious next step would be to exchange numbers or something. “Just DM me on Instagram when you want to stop by.”

Minho knew exactly why he didn’t offer Jisung his phone number. DMing is a little less personal and wouldn’t lead Minho into reading too far into anything. A DM doesn’t mean anything and there’s no way he could get his heart broken from one.

* * *

Jisung updated his post about Dori so people would know he found her owner. He had followed Minho to message him, but used the last of his self-restraint to not look at the older boy’s photos. Now that they were sort of friends he didn’t want to go and make his crush worse by stalking Minho’s Instagram. It hadn’t really worked in the past but hopefully, Jisung’s will power had increased (highly unlikely though). 

The main thing that had Jisung’s head spinning was the DMing situation. If Minho was really keen on them hanging out then why didn’t he give Jisung his number? Was Minho one of those people who hated handing out their number and would only do so if asked? Or did he not want to weird Jisung out?

Questions bounced around in his head to the point where Jisung wanted to go back to bed. He suffered from “over analyzing every single detail” syndrome and without someone to tell him to shut up he couldn’t turn it off.

He wished Felix was home so he could talk to him about what had happened. Sure, he could message the other boy but Jisung didn’t want to interrupt the time Felix had with his boyfriend. During the week Changbin and Felix rarely saw each other due to their classes and extracurricular activities. Jisung wouldn’t let himself get in their way.

Chan would make him work on a song that Jisung didn’t have the energy for, and Seungmin would make him focus on all his homework. Of course, he had other friends he could talk to and get their opinions on the whole situation. Hell, he could even bother Jackson about it if he wanted. He’d probably get told that it wasn’t an issue Jackson had to help him with but the older boy would still listen if Jisung asked. But, he didn’t quite trust those other friends like he trusted Felix, Changbin, Chan, Seungmin, or even Jackson. Not that his RA was his _friend_ but the older boy’s aura just screamed “You’re safe with me” and Jisung really appreciated that.

So, Jisung did his least favorite thing on earth… he waited.

***

“How was your weekend, Sungie?” Felix asked as he stepped into their room Sunday night.

“Actually, it was pretty crazy.” Jisung shut his laptop and moved to sit across from Felix on the blond boy’s bed. “I’m assuming you haven’t seen my Instagram?”

“Did you post something?”

“Yeah go look at it,” Jisung watched as Felix pulled out his phone. After a few seconds, the boy’s mouth dropped open and he stared at Jisung. “Crazy, right?”

“Let me get this straight, and dear god don’t make a joke about that, you found Minho’s cat?”

“Yeah, I was walking home from the studio when I found her stuck in a box. I brought her back here since it was late and she didn’t have a phone number or address on her collar.”

“So, why post it on Insta?”

“Just to get the word out there until I made posters or something.”

“I guess it worked out in the end,” Felix froze than his eyes widened again. “That means you talked to Minho!”

“Yeah he came over to pick her up,” Jisung scratched the back of his neck “He actually said I could go to his apartment to hang out whenever I wanted to visit Dori.”

Felix screamed, “You’re kidding!”

“Except, well, he didn’t give me his number.” Jisung dropped his head and looked at his lap. “I don’t know what to think about that.”

“How would you go visit if you don’t have his number?”

“He said to message him on Instagram,” Jisung tried to gauge Felix’s reaction. “Is that like normal for him?”

“I mean it took a few dance classes for me to get his number but I didn’t have him on social media either so maybe.”

“So I shouldn’t worry?”

“You should worry about what you wear when you visit,” Felix laughed. “But I don’t think you have to worry about anything else.”

* * *

“You didn’t give him your phone number!” Hyunjin yelled as he flopped onto Minho’s couch.

Minho shrugged as he scrolled through random apps on his phone. He knew he shouldn’t have told Hyunjin what happened.

“That was your chance!”

“My chance to do what exactly?”

“To ask him out,” Hyunjin scoffed. “To finally move past the pining stage.”

“Maybe I don’t want to move past that stage.”

“What are you on about?”

“I think I’d prefer to possibly have Jisung as a friend, not a boyfriend.”

Hyunjin spluttered, “You can’t be serious!”

“You know how I feel about relationships, Hyunjin.”

“Listen,” Hyunjin leaned forward. “Jisung wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s literally incapable of hurting someone’s feelings.”

“You’ve talked to him twice.”

“Yeah, but Felix is always bragging about how nice he is.”

“That’s because _Felix_ is nice.”

“And nice people usually hang out together.”

“That literally makes no sense Hyunjin,” Minho sighs. “I’ll exchange numbers with him when I want to, okay?”

Hyunjin backed away, “Fine, but I’m still telling Innie.”

Minho definitely didn’t need the youngest of their group to get on his back about the whole Jisung situation but Hyunjin told Jeongin everything. Hyunjin claimed it was because Jeongin was still in high school and needed to be kept up to date with Hyunjin’s life. Minho argued that what happened in _his_ life was not equivalent to Hyunjin’s life but the younger boy still pressed it. Minho didn’t mind Jeongin’s presence when he hung out with them but he wouldn’t say they were close. Just well acquainted through Hyunjin.

To be fair, Minho wasn’t really close with anyone. He talked to Hyunjin a lot and sometimes he talked to Felix, Jackson, and Chan but he wasn’t really friends with the other three boys. Not to mention that Hyunjin was more of a parasitic relationship, to begin with. Minho didn’t mind being alone and all his “friends” had come about because they showed up one day and refused to leave. But most friendships are like that in a way aren’t they?

***

It was just a simple hang out that involved his cat. Nothing more. Minho wouldn’t let himself fall deeper into the hole he dug himself. Jisung was only coming over to visit Dori not him. The younger boy had no interest in Minho at all.

He kept repeating things like that in his head until a knock at the door made him jump. Minho wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before opening the door.

“Hi,” A wide smile pushed Jisung’s cheeks upwards and Minho felt his heart stutter.

“Hey,” Minho stepped to the side. “Come on in.”

Minho showed the younger boy around his apartment. They made small talk before Minho led him back to the living room where Dori was curled up on the couch. The other two cats were sitting on the cat tree watching something outside the window.

“You can sit down and pet her,” Minho started to move to the kitchen. “I’m going to make some tea. Do you want any?”

“No thank you,” Jisung moved carefully onto the couch. “But I’d like some water, please.”

Dori crawled into Jisung’s lap the moment she recognized him. Minho heard the younger boy talking quietly to Dori but due to the distance, he couldn’t make out the words. He smiled softly to himself as he made the tea and got Jisung’s water ready.

Minho stepped out of the kitchen with the two drinks in his hands to be greeted with the view of Jisung cooing at his cat. The younger boy looked small in an oversized baby blue sweater that Dori was pawing at. It was awfully _domestic_ in a way that made Minho want to either gush about how cute it was or turn the other way and leave forever. He was glad he made tea since it would surely help calm his nerves.

“I hope you didn’t want ice because I forget to make some,” Minho laughed while setting Jisung’s water onto the table.

“It’s fine,” Jisung shot him another blinding smile. “Has she tried to escape yet?”

“Several times,” Minho said as he blew onto his tea to cool it down. “I’m thinking about getting her a harness so I can take her on walks.”

Minho watched as Jisung’s eyes light up, “That would be so cute!”

“Would you like to come with when I get one?”

“Could I?” The younger boy bounced a bit startling Dori. He murmured an apology to her before continuing. “I think it would be really fun.”

“Yeah,” Minho took a sip of his tea. “Besides, she’ll probably listen to you.”

“I doubt that,” Dori purred loudly as Jisung scratched behind her ear. “She ignored me a lot when she was in my dorm.”

“She is the Drama Queen of the household.”

“Really?” Jisung giggled. “Could have sworn Felix said that was you.”

Minho gasped, “That’s slander on my good image.”

Both boys bursted into a fit of laughter. It took a few moments for them both to calm down.

“Felix would be right though,” Minho said into his tea. “I am quite the drama queen.”

Jisung’s face softened, “I hope you know that isn’t a bad thing.”

The rest of their hangout went smoothly. Jisung continued to make Minho laugh and the older boy continued to try and stop his growing crush.

“I should get going,” Jisung looked at the clock. “I had a lot of fun. Hopefully we could do this again?”

“Totally,” Minho stood up to walk him out.

“I’ll see you soon?” Jisung asked and Minho nodded. 

Minho watched him walk down the hallway towards the elevator, “Wait!”

Jisung turned around and walked back, “Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to exchange numbers?” Minho stopped himself from cringing at his words. “It’s a little easier than DMing.”

“Sure,” Jisung beamed at him and Minho felt his heart flutter.

* * *

“What’d you set his contact name as?” Felix leaned over his shoulder.

“I just set it as Minho.”

“That’s boring,” Felix whined. “Have some creativity, Sungie.”

“We’re barely even friends,” Jisung whined back. “I can’t give him some weird nickname.”

“Sure you can.” Felix grabbed his phone. “He’ll never know.”

“And what if he does?”

“It’ll be a good conversation starter.” Felix tapped away at Jisung’s phone. “Done!”

“You changed it to Cat Dad?”

“With a heart.”

“Felix,” Jisung started. “That’s just really bad.”

“It’s a great phone name.”

Jisung shook his head, “Maybe for two middle-aged men.”

“I can’t believe you said that,” Felix pretended to wipe away tears. “We’re getting a divorce.”

“We were never married.”

“Oh yeah,” Felix giggled. “Forgot you were my side chick.”

Jisung rolled his eyes, “I’m changing it back to Minho.”

“At least add some emoji to make it fun.”

“I’ll be predictable and add a cat,” Jisung turned his screen to Felix. “Good enough?”

“Purrfect.”

Jisung pushed Felix off his bed and the slightly younger boy landed on the ground with an overdramatic yell.

“Well, that was rude.” Felix huffed refusing to get off the floor.

“And your pun was terrible.”

“So, when are you going to text Minho?”

“I’m going to wait for him to text me.”

“He’s not going to message you until the cat harness comes in.”

“I know,” Jisung wouldn’t admit it but he wished he and Minho were actually friends and not two strangers connecting over the other’s cat.

“So, message him first.” Felix stood up. “Get the ball rolling for when you two actually hang out.”

Jisung’s phone buzzed cutting their conversation off. The lock screen showed a message from Minho but before Jisung could look at it Felix snatched his phone.

“Felix,” Jisung pouted. “Give it back.”

“No this is karma.”

After a few minutes Felix handed his phone back with a smirk that Jisung didn’t trust, “Thank me later.”

Jisung would certainly not be thanking Felix later. He read through the messages and he couldn’t believe Felix really did him dirty like that. The first few texts were fine but the last few made Jisung want to scream.

***

 **Minho** 😺: Hey I was wondering if you wanted to get food when we take Dori for a walk?

**Jisung** 🐹: Sounds like fun 😊

**Minho** 😺 **:** Do you have anything specific in mind?

**Jisung** 🐹 **:** Anything sounds good to me. I guess it depends on where we end up on our walk. 🙂

**Minho** 😺 **:** That all depends on Dori

**Jisung** 🐹 **:** Guess we’re in good paws then 🤣😂🤣

**Minho** 😺 **:** I can’t wait to hang out with you again

**Jisung** 🐹 **:** I hope you get the harness soon so we can go on this walk asap.

***

There wasn’t a reply after the last message Felix sent and it made Jisung’s stomach churn. Should he send another message telling Minho it wasn’t him texting? He didn’t want Minho to think anything bad about the situation. Nor did he want Minho to think he used a ton of emojis like that.

Jisung flipped his phone over so he would stop staring at his lock screen to light up. The pause was making him more nervous than he already was. He wished he had been the one to decide what the messages had said. At least then if Minho was ghosting him he’d be the one actually being ghosted.

The phone started to ring causing Jisung to jump. He fumbled with picking it up and hit answer before bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello?” Jisung’s palms started to sweat

_“Hey, Jisung. I’m sorry about the text messages. Hyunjin took my phone from me spouting some nonsense about me being inept at talking to people, which can sometimes be true. But I wanted to let you know that I wasn’t the one texting you. I don’t know if this makes everything awkward now-”_

“Minho,” Jisung stopped the older boy. “I wasn’t the one sending my texts either. Felix took my phone because I pushed him off my bed.”

_“I feel like they planned this then.”_

“I don’t think either of them are smart enough to plan that.”

“ _True” Minho laughed. “Although, I wouldn’t mind going out to eat when we walk with Dori and I really can’t wait to hang out with you again. I had fun.”_

Jisung’s heart started to beat faster, “I wouldn’t mind eating either and I had fun also.”

_“I gotta be honest after reading the messages I had a feeling it wasn’t you,” Minho chuckled again. “There were a lot of emojis which I know Felix likes to use.”_

“If you think that was a lot you should see my texts with Felix,” Jisung giggled. “Half of them are just emojis.”

_“Sounds horrible.”_

“Eh, it’s not that bad,” Jisung stood up from his bed to pace around his room. “Felix is just an overexcited dog half the time.”

_“And you aren’t?”_

“Hey!” Jisung heard Minho laugh. “I can be chill.”

_“Sure, Sungie.”_

Jisung mouthed the nickname to himself. Sure quite a few people called him that but hearing it come from Minho sent shockwaves through his body.

“You should see me when I’m on stage,” Jisung cursed himself for suggesting Minho should watch a 3RACHA performance. “I’m _so_ cool then.”

_“I can imagine,” Minho snorted. “With your sweater paws and puffy cheeks.”_

“If you continue that sentence by saying I look like a squirrel I’ll hang up,” Jisung pouted as he laid back onto his bed.

_“I would have said you resembled a hamster more but really any rodent works.”_

“Great,” The guy he liked thought he looked like a rodent. What more could Jisung ask for?

_“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Minho’s soft voice carried through the phone. “You’re very cute.”_

Jisung guessed his face was bright red, “I’d say you remind me of a cat.”

_“They do say you act like the five closest people to you and three out of the five for me are my cats.”_

Jisung laughed, “I can see where Dori gets her rebelliousness from.”

_“She had it first I was the one who got it from her,”_

“I highly doubt that.”

_“Can’t tell if I’m offended or not,”_

“You should probably get used to that feeling cause half of the stuff that comes out of my mouth can be slightly offensive. That’s mostly due to the fact that I don’t have a filter.”

_“So you are an over-excited puppy like Felix,”_

“More like the roadrunner from looney toons.”

_“I would ask if that makes me the coyote but I really don’t want that title.”_

Jisung hummed, “I’d go with Bugs Bunny but who am I to tell you who to vibe with.”

_“Why Bugs?”_

“Not really sure to be honest you just give me that kind of aura.”

_“I’ll take it.”_

Jisung laughed for the millionth time. He wouldn’t mind if he never dated Minho just as long as he got to be friends with the older boy.

The impending doom of their second hangout loomed over Jisung’s head for the rest of the conversation. They ended up talking for a few hours switching to face time somewhere in the middle. Minho had been curled up on his couch, a cat seemed to pop up out of nowhere every five seconds. Jisung had stayed in his bed thankful that Felix had left to go to the shared common room.

Jisung knew his crush on Minho was growing and stopping it would be futile. Liking the older boy was easy. Minho made it easy by cracking sarcastic comments and mushy jokes. Seeing Minho smile during their talk caused Jisung’s heart to flutter one too many times.

* * *

Hyunjin, he realized was the bane of his existence and Minho should have realized it sooner. It would have saved him a significant amount of money in damage control. Clothes were everywhere. It was a miracle that Minho could even see bits of the floor. His entire closet had been emptied out because Hyunjin was on a quest to find Minho the perfect outfit. 

"It has to be comfortable so you can walk but stylish enough to make Jisung go crazy."

“It isn't a date," Minho grimaced as Hyunjin threw more clothes around.

“It most certainly is," Hyunjin smirked. "Neither of you want to admit it though."

"He doesn't like me," Minho scowled while throwing a shirt at Hyunjin. "I'll pick out my own outfit."

"As your best friend-"

"Who says you're my best friend?" Personally, Minho wouldn't say anyone was his best friend. But, most people enjoyed labels and titles and he could see the hurt flit across Hyunjin's face the second the words left his mouth. 

"I know you're saying that because you have this thing against getting close to someone but you have to figure that shit out." Hyunjin moved towards the door. "I keep coming back because I know you and love you. But _someone_ else might not understand and decide to leave for good the second you push them away"

"You don't understand," Minho said mostly to himself. "If you understood you wouldn't say that."

Hyunjin whipped around from the door, "then tell me why I don't understand."

"You've never had anyone leave you." 

"What are you on about Minho?" There was an intensity in Hyunjin's eyes that Minho had never seen before. 

“My father,” Minho’s throat closed. “He was the first to leave.”

“Minho-”

“He left in the middle of the night. He left a note addressed to my mother saying he never wanted kids and resented her for having me. That my existence destroyed his life so he left.” 

Hyunjin didn’t say anything that time. He just stared at Minho and the older boy hated the gaze of pity that was flashed his way. 

“That’s just the beginning of my tragic ‘everyone leaves’ spiel. All my important friends have ended up leaving. Let’s see,” Minho held up his left hand ready to count all the friends on his fingers. “My first best friend stopped talking to me after my parents separated. The next one I made at dance but he hated it so he stopped showing up. The third one ended when they became popular in middle school and I didn't. The fourth started to ignore me so I tried to cut it off myself and then he tried to blackmail me. The fifth claimed I was annoying halfway through junior year of high school. And the latest one happened just last year, she started dating someone who made her really toxic."

“And that’s why you don’t want to get close to anyone?” Hyunjin moved to sit next to Minho. 

“It’ll hurt less when you eventually leave if I’m not that attached.” 

“Minho, if you never let anyone in then you aren’t exactly living a life.” 

“The life I have now is perfectly fine.” 

“But it could be better,” Hyunjin smiled. “Jisung’s already improved your sour mood and you’ve only known him a short while.” 

“Jisung’s-” Minho sighed like one of those girls in a cringey teen rom-com. “Different” 

“I hope you know you sound-” 

“Yes, I know how it sounds,” Minho scoffed. 

“Then do something about it.” 

“Like what?” 

“I don’t know,” The smile on his face proved otherwise. “Why don’t you ask him out? For real.” 

“He wouldn’t-” 

“He would.” 

* * *

Jisung was going to throw up. His excitement and anxiety mixed in the pit of his stomach it swirled around and all he could think about was not throwing up. Minho finally received the leash to walk Dori with and set up a time for them to meet and Jisung was not ready to make a fool out of himself. Their phone conversations kept happening and Jisung knew there was more at stake than a crush at this point. He could feel himself being drawn closer to the older boy. There was a relationship starting to form between the two and despite it being platonic Jisung enjoyed it. But, he couldn’t deny the crush either and with every phone call Jisung could feel the butterflies in his stomach go crazy and he never wanted that feeling to go away. Besides the fact that a friendship with Minho would be a little difficult if his crush never went away but that was a future Jisung problem. Current Jisung needed to worry about not throwing up and not ruining the almost friendship he had with Minho.

The walk was pleasant and their conversations shifted naturally as they wandered around the city with Dori leading them. Finding a place for them to eat that allowed Dori inside was a feat in itself so the boys opted to drop her back at Minho’s apartment and find someplace afterwards. Neither of them had any clue on where to eat so they just walked into the first place they came across. It was a cute retro-style diner with a pastel yellow theme that made Jisung smile. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cuter diner in my life,” Jisung took out his phone and started snapping photos after they had been seated. “I have to bring Felix here he would love it.” 

“We don’t even know if the food is good yet,” Minho laughed. 

“It doesn’t need to be with an aesthetic like this!” 

Both boys laughed and looked over the menu while they waited for their server to bring them their drinks. Jisung was a little preoccupied with the view in front of him despite not knowing what he wanted to order. To be fair it wasn’t his fault that Minho looked ridiculously pretty with the diner’s decor behind him. The soft yellow was a contrast to Minho’s darker clothes and his bad-boy vibes. Jisung wanted to take a photo but that would be beyond weird even if they were friends. If he was a photographer maybe the request wouldn’t be as abnormal but Jisung really didn’t have any experience past taking pictures of his friends for their Instagrams. Which, thinking about it, Jisung realized he could ask the older boy if he wanted Jisung to take a photo of him and then just screenshot it off his Instagram. Not like that wasn’t a little weirder just a smarter way to be weird. And in any situation probably not the best but that didn’t stop Jisung’s brain from thinking about it. 

“I have a little confession to make,” Minho smiled at him from across the table. 

Jisung cocked his head to the side, “What?” 

“I’ve had a crush on you for a while,” Minho paused. “And I kinda wish this was a date instead of a hang-out.” 

A warm silence washed over the two boys as Jisung processed what Minho just said. For a moment, Jisung expected to wake up in his bed and everything that had just happened was a dream. But reality had finally crashed down upon them and was giving Jisung a chance to seize it. In his mind, he pictured a gate that was opening that would lead him from daydreaming about Minho to finally being able to do something about it. 

“I’d like that too,” Jisung cleared his throat. “If this was a date. Or well, if we scheduled something as a date.” 

“So you like me back?” Minho’s eyes sparkled in the light of the diner. “In the same way?” 

“Of course!” He probably didn’t need to say it with as much enthusiasm as he did but that’s the way his brain decided to say the sentence. 

“Well,” Minho laughed. “Let’s plan a date then.” 

* * *

Minho watched as Jisung sat on the floor of his apartment surrounded by all three of his cats. The younger boy’s laugh echoed in the small apartment. The smile on Minho’s face is starting to hurt but he’s never been happier. The moment in the diner that changed everything seemed so far away despite a few months of time passing. Sometimes Minho thinks about why he decided to ask Jisung out in that diner. An hour earlier an he would have told anyone he would never ask Jisung out. But that diner had a magical air to it that nagged at Minho to ask the younger boy the question that had been sitting on his tongue for so long. Of course, Minho didn’t really “ask” Jisung out he poised it more as a thought and hoped that Jisung would be the one to push it further. 

It worked out for them though since they were still together about to celebrate six months of their relationship. Most of their dates either happened at the same diner or at Minho’s apartment whenever Jisung whined about being cat deprived. It took a few weeks before either Minho or Jisung told their friends that they were in a relationship. The response was great but Minho wished he never told Felix and Hyunjin. The two younger boys never left him alone in their classes and often teased him. And the coveted “I told you so” was thrown around every single day. But Minho wouldn’t change any of it no matter how much he wanted too. He allowed himself to open up to his friends more often. And he gave Hyunjin a very dorky best friend necklace for the boy’s birthday which may or may not have caused some tears from both boys. 

Minho was interrupted from his thoughts when Jisung suddenly sat next to him on the sofa with Dori in his arms. She was a little bigger than when she escaped and brought the two of them together but she still acted the same. 

“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened with us if Dori hadn’t escaped,” Jisung mused. 

“I think at some point we would have crossed paths,” Minho reached over to pet Dori. “But she just caused it to happen earlier.” 

“I love you,” Jisung leaned over to kiss Minho on the cheek. “Like a lot.” 

Minho laughed, “I love you, too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this over a year ago and it's what took my attention away from my longer fic. Hopefully, you like it because it's been sitting in my drafts staring at me for months. 
> 
> Twitter (which for some reason I use more than Tumblr now): https://twitter.com/PixiesnFreckles
> 
> Curious Cat (Idk if you wanna leave questions or not): https://curiouscat.qa/PixiesnFreckles
> 
> Tumblr (Which I don't use often): https://pixiesandfreckles.tumblr.com/
> 
> My carrd (you can find out more about me): https://cottoncandywonderland.carrd.co/
> 
> \- Miri


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